Matching Items (164)
Filtering by
- All Subjects: Business
- Creators: Barrett, The Honors College
Description
A large section of United States citizens live far away from supermarkets and do not have an easy way to get to one. This portion of the population lives in an area called a food desert. Food deserts are geographic areas in which access to affordable, healthy food, such as fresh produce, is limited or completely nonexistent due to the absence of convenient grocery stores. Individuals living in food deserts are left to rely on convenience store snacks and fast food for their meals because they do not have access to a grocery store with fresh produce in their area. Unhealthy foods also lead to health issues, as people living in food deserts are typically at a higher risk of diet-related conditions, such as obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Harvest, a sustainable farming network, is a smartphone application that teaches and guides people living in small spaces through the process of growing fresh, nutritious produce in their own homes. The app will guide users through the entire process of gardening, from seed to harvest. Harvest would give individuals living in food deserts an opportunity to access fresh produce that they currently can’t access. An overwhelming response based on our user discussion and market analysis revealed that our platform was in demand. Development of a target market, brand guide, and full lifecycle were beneficial during the second semester as Harvest moved forward. Through the development of a website, social media platform, and smartphone application, Harvest grew traction for our platform. Our social media accounts saw a 1700% growth rate, and this wider audience was able to provide helpful feedback.
ContributorsRaimondo, Felix Ryan (Co-author) / Tobey, Anna (Co-author) / Balahmut, Hannah (Co-author) / Byrne, Jared (Thesis director) / Satpathy, Asish (Committee member) / Human Systems Engineering (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
The rationale behind this thesis is grounded in nearly two years of experience interning at UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS). I was able to gain a wide exposure to different facets of the supply chain management organization during my time as an intern, from strategic sourcing and commodity management, to tactical procurement and supplier development. In each of these respective areas, I observed a variety of initiatives that did not reach their full potential because employees were not provided the tools for success. One of these areas in particular is the New Product Introduction (NPI) process management, in which there is not a standard process for program managers to follow from start to finish. I saw this as an opportunity to hone in the scope of my thesis research and experience at UTAS to improve a process and provide standard work and tools for it to be consistently executed. The current state process is not formalized \u2014 it merely tracks certain metrics that are not necessarily applicable to the overall health of the program because they do not monitor the progress of the program. This resulted in heavy costs incurred from inadequate planning, a skewed timeline, and customer frustration. The aim of the desired state NPI process is to gather cross-functional expertise and weigh in, adhere to a strict entry to market timeline, and increase customer satisfaction, all while minimizing costs incurred throughout the life of the program. The dominant output of this project will be a cross-functional flow chart of the process for each group to follow and standard work and tools to support the process across a variety of NPI program applications.
ContributorsThorn, Taylor Aiko Marie (Author) / Brown, Steven (Thesis director) / Arrigoni, Gregory (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
We were driven by the question: what is happening to the popularity of Major League Baseball? In order to answer this question we compared the league structure of Major League Baseball with that of the National Football League. We were able to speak with five former or current members of the respective leagues in order to gain some insight into how the two leagues operate. The main focus of our research was around the payroll structures of the two leagues as well as their revenue sharing policies. In the end, we discovered that Major League Baseball is becoming highly regionalized. The sport is still growing in popularity in terms of revenue and fan involvement, but it is becoming less popular on a national stage. The league is benefitting greatly from factors like the increasing importance of "TiVo proof programming" and a lack of competition. Each league is very different in its own right. While the NFL promotes a perception of competitive balance, Major League Baseball can be plagued by the negative perception it creates surrounding some of its smaller market teams.
ContributorsHeath, Cameron (Co-author) / Linamen, John (Co-author) / Eaton, John (Thesis director) / Mokwa, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Derived from the idea that the utilization of sustainable practices could improve small business practice, this honors thesis offers a full business assessment and recommendations for improvements of a local, family-owned coffee shop, Gold Bar. A thorough analysis of the shop's current business practices and research on unnecessary expenses and waste guides this assessment.
ContributorsSorden, Clarissa (Co-author) / Boden, Alexandra (Co-author) / Darnall, Nicole (Thesis director) / Dooley, Kevin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This project seeks to investigate the ways in which the W.P. Carey School of Business, at Arizona State University, can improve student retention and engagement efforts. The analysis is being completed through an audit of the business school's current efforts towards student engagement, an examination of the internal and external environments of business schools across the nation, and a review of scholarly data/research on student retention risk factors and methods for improving engagement. The study highlights what exactly contributes to the success of the W.P. Carey School of Business, concluding with recommendations for how its engagement and retention efforts can be further improved to continue to serve students at a nationally ranked level.
ContributorsStinger, Rio W. (Author) / Hillman, Amy (Thesis director) / Mader, Michael (Committee member) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
Tech2Learn, a privately owned tutoring company, serves students in kindergarten through eighth grade at its Phoenix location. The company's founding mission "is for every child to build individual competence and confidence in essential skills." It accomplishes this mission by providing a safe, fun, and engaging environment where children feel comfortable learning. In addition to tutoring in traditional subjects such as math and reading, Tech2Learn also offers a dyslexia reading lab, and a High School Placement Test prep course. The goal of this plan is to find a low cost and easy to manage way for Tech2Learn to market its services and encourage referrals. To achieve this goal, I conducted both an external and internal analysis. In order for Tech2Learn to remain competitive in the industry, it must be aware of trends such as the rapidly evolution of teaching technology, new government mandates on curriculum, and parents' desire to be involved in their children's education. While these trends create opportunities for growth, there are also threats that arise. One threat to Tech2Learn is a large number of competitors in the market. The company relies on its strengths of human capital and unique teaching approach to minimize these threats. The tactics and strategies recommended in this plan are intended to reduce the company's weaknesses. Specifically, tactical recommendations target Tech2Learn's digital presence through the creation of a Facebook page, consolidation of company owned web domains, and updating business information on both owned and earned online sites. Additionally, strategic suggestions aim to prepare Tech2Learn for future growth through the implementation of a formal training procedure, consideration of an additional office location, and differentiation through the early adoption of new technologies, such as virtual reality.
ContributorsCunningham, Sinead Bridget (Author) / Ostrom, Amy (Thesis director) / Giles, Bret (Committee member) / Cummings, Deborah (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
Sex trafficking in the United States is an enormous illegal underground business economy that involves the sexual exploitation of many persons. Due to the large nature of the sex trafficking business and the many different types of sex trafficking, it is helpful for social workers, government agencies, and activists to understand the intricacies of the various types of sex trafficking. This research focused on determining the human resources business structures behind pimp businesses that relied on mental coercion of the victim. The data source used, Pimpfeet.com—an online pimp authored blog—provided data from actual pimps on their business practices that were analyzed to determine trends in recruitment and retention. These trends were compared to human resource management theories from business literature to determine to what extent, or if at all, a pimp’s business recruited and retained workers in a way that was similar to how a legal business would, according to human resources strategies. The data extracted from Pimpfeet.com and used in this study consisted of 69 pimp quotes that were put into three recruitment categories and five retention categories based on human resource management literature in order to see which categories were used for recruitment and retention by pimps. This study found that pimp recruitment and retention followed, to some extent, the same models described in the human resource management literature, with slight modifications. This study showed that job embeddedness theory (Holtom, Mitchel and Lee, 2009) was able to explain much of why sex trafficking victims are retained so well by pimps since they are so embedded in the prostitution lifestyle. These findings show the different business techniques that pimps use for recruitment and retention of sex workers and are useful for understanding how a social worker, government entity or an activist can combat these forces to help remove victims from a pimp’s control, or keep victims from getting recruited in the first place. Further areas of research related to this topic were suggested.
ContributorsRivera, Kameron (Co-author) / La Benz, Alexis (Co-author) / Roe-Sepowitz, Dominique (Thesis director) / Corley, Kevin (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to convince readers of the benefits of cross-functional collaboration and innovation within the W. P. Carey School of Business. Specifically, cross-functional collaboration is the "innovation" that is being discussed and will be presented. Written from the perspective of a current business student, this thesis incorporates secondary research as well as personal experience to explain why this would benefit the business school at Arizona State University. The research conducted stems from online resources such as the Harvard Business Review, Kai Nexus, Forbes and other websites and explains why the author decided to pursue this topic. Cross-functional collaboration is seen in the everyday workings of the business world and are a utilized by a multitude of successful companies \u2014 Dell, Intel, Amazon, Apple and other similar companies. Therefore, it should be taken advantage of within undergraduate education in order to better prepare students for what they may experience afterwards. In addition, a majority of the paper is dedicated to recommendations for how exactly cross-functional collaboration could be incorporated, as well as examples of successful cross-functional courses and teams. These recommendations will be beneficial to business and general faculty members and can contribute to positive organizational change at the university.
ContributorsThompson, Trevor N (Author) / Trujillo, Rhett (Thesis director) / Peck, Sidnee (Committee member) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Information Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
This thesis will analyze the operations of two nonprofit organizations located in different parts of the world. One local and one international nonprofit organization was chosen for this thesis/creative project because of the diverse culture, customs and regulations in each setting. The paper will discuss the operations of St. Vincent de Paul, the Chandler Conference of St. Vincent de Paul, and Sri Sai Darshan Trust (SSDT). The paper begins with a brief history of nonprofit organizations followed by a detailed background on both organizations. The management (organizational structure), finances, marketing, and legalities will be discussed of each nonprofit. The paper will then examine the specialized projects of each organization throughout the year. A PEST, SWOT, value chain, Kraljic, spend, and demand analysis were conducted based off of the research on each nonprofit. The paper will then discuss the problems each organization exhibits and the potential solutions the nonprofits can implement into their daily operations in order to resolve them. This section analyzes the similarities and differences within each business area of the nonprofit organization. Short-term solutions to current business problems and long-term solutions to organizational problems will be discussed in this section. The conclusion is the final element of the thesis. In this section, a balanced scorecard will be created for each nonprofit organization. In addition, the authors will discuss what they learned throughout the entire process. The goal of this thesis/creative project was to integrate the knowledge and concepts from business (marketing, finance, management, accounting, supply chain management, and computer information systems), and find an application for each within nonprofit organizations around the world.
ContributorsPatel, Nisha (Co-author) / Sivakumar, Akila (Co-author) / Maltz, Arnold (Thesis director) / LePine, Marcie (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
The story of Moneyball is an informative tale. It is the true story of the Oakland Athletics baseball team in the 2002 season who managed to not only compete with teams who had nearly three times the payroll size and all the star players, but also won an American League record 20 games in a row. Their manager, Billy Beane, was able to achieve this by using sabermetrics, a newly invented term that describes the advanced statistics and metrics used to judge a player's contribution to the success of the team over traditional statistics and gut feeling, to draft and trade for undervalued players to create a competitive team under his small-market budget. This story is well known as a best-selling novel by Michael Lewis and later a film by the same name. Clearly it was successful in the field of baseball, but can it be used in other business industries? The idea of sabermetrics, or finding more information to predict the future of a player is very similar to the ideas of Information Measurement Theory (IMT) as theorized by Dr. Dean Kashiwagi, a professor at Arizona State University. The goal of this paper is to use Moneyball as a narrative to show how applying the concepts of IMT to businesses could allow them to better predict their performance and the future of their industry. Moreover, these same ideas can predict if the leadership of the company will be successful by analyzing their personal characteristics. This paper will act as a guide for businesses to start following the concepts of IMT and to better analyze themselves and their industry to increase performance and reduce stressful decision-making.
ContributorsKent, Austin (Author) / Kashiwagi, Dean (Thesis director) / Kashiwagi, Jacob (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05